Again, gunmen kill policeman, prison officials in Anambra

A policeman was on Friday morning, at about 4:30 am, killed by gunmen during an attack on a police station in Ekwulobia, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Also, two persons believed to be officials of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) were feared killed at about 11 am in the same locality, on the same day, during an attack on a prison vehicle conveying some criminal suspects to court.

According to sources, the attackers of the police station shot sporadically in the air for about 30 minutes and later made attempts to set the police station ablaze.

This came less than 24 hours after gunmen reportedly killed three policemen at Okacha Junction, Neni and three Naval officers in Awkuzu community in Anaocha and Oyi LGAs respectively.

At Neni, the police patrol vehicle was set ablaze and the police rifles were taken away while the military equipment and guns belonging to the Naval officers were equally taken away by the attackers.

An eyewitness said that the two persons affected in the prison’s vehicle were a man and woman believed to be officials of the NCS.

He said: “There was another attack on the same police station Ekwulobia around 11 am. The attack was on a prison bus that was going to the police station.

“And two people were killed on the bus. It seems they were following the bus. So as the bus got to the police station, those unknown gunmen opened fire on them, killing one woman and a man that seems to be prison officials.

“The gunmen shattered all the glasses on the bus. Those who were present at the scene when it was happening said that the attackers took away the suspects being conveyed to the court. They said that they took them and drove off.

“So, it’s a double attack in less than six hours. I couldn’t get the picture because I was scared of going near the place”, narrated the source, who craved anonymity.

Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ikenga Toochukwu, confirmed the Ekwulobia attack to newsmen, saying that efforts by the hoodlums to burn down the rebuilt police station were repelled by the policemen at the station.

The PPRO said that that it was not clear yet as at the time he spoke if there was any casualty yet. He said that the command was yet to get a very clear picture of what actually transpired.

Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Correctional Service in the state, Francis Ekezie, confirmed that their officials conveying crime suspects to court were attacked. He said that the command was still trying to get the full information on what actually happened.

“Yes, there was an attack on our men who were going to the court but the information is still sketchy now. I’ll get back to you”, he said.